First Look: ‘Court of Fowls’ Protest Sign Seems to Confirm the Court of Owls Are Coming to ‘The Batman: Part II’

Gotham City has always doubled as a playground for Easter eggs, and Matt Reeves’ sequel has been no exception. Between snow-covered streets, mysterious working titles, and a cast list that keeps growing by the week, ‘The Batman: Part II‘ has spent months feeding fan theories without confirming much of anything.

That secrecy has made every scrap of set footage feel like a puzzle piece, and the latest one might be the biggest yet. New photos and video from the London set show a full-blown protest scene, complete with placards, white masks, and a crowd surrounding what appears to be Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne being escorted through the chaos.

Among the signs held up by demonstrators is one that reads “Court of Fowls,” a clear play on the Court of Owls, one of Batman’s more recent and more mysterious comic book villains. Combined with several protesters wearing pale, owl-like masks reminiscent of the Court’s assassins, the Talons, the sign has fans convinced the secretive society is finally making its live-action debut.

“COURT OF FOWLS” sign spotted on the set of ‘The Batman: Part 2’ 🦉🦇

(📸 @robymav_) pic.twitter.com/1lQteavcTr

— The Batman Saga News (@TheBatmanSagaNW) September 13, 2026

It wouldn’t be the first hint pointing in that direction. Production sources previously uncovered a working title for the sequel, “Semper Vigilans,” Latin for “always vigilant,” a phrase that lines up closely with the ominous nursery rhyme tied to the Court of Owls in the comics, which warns that the group “watches all the time” from its “shadowed perch” above Gotham.

The protest sequence was shot outside St Paul’s Cathedral, which is reportedly standing in for the Gotham Bar Association, feeding speculation that District Attorney Harvey Dent will factor heavily into the story. Cameras also rolled nearby at Freemasons’ Hall, a location previously used in the James Bond film ‘Spectre,’ and its grand, secretive aesthetic has only added fuel to Court of Owls theories.

Beyond the “Court of Fowls” sign, other placards spotted at the scene took aim at wealth inequality in Gotham, with messages about the rich getting richer and the poor being left with nothing. That thematic thread would fit naturally with the Court of Owls, a group in the comics made up of some of the city’s wealthiest and most powerful families who have secretly manipulated Gotham from the shadows for generations.

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Reeves himself has been fairly open about wanting to break new ground with the sequel’s antagonist. Speaking with Josh Horowitz at the Emmys red carpet, the director explained that the villain was chosen specifically to dig deeper into Bruce Wayne’s past, adding that whatever he has planned has never really been done in a Batman movie before. He’s kept the specifics locked down since, but that comment has only intensified speculation every time a new set photo surfaces.

Whether “Court of Fowls” turns out to be a genuine confirmation or just an elaborate red herring designed to throw off eagle-eyed fans, it’s exactly the kind of detail that thrives in the information vacuum surrounding this production. Reeves has proven with ‘The Batman’ that he’s willing to dig into corners of Gotham’s mythology that previous films have ignored, and the Court of Owls would certainly qualify.

With filming continuing across multiple UK locations, more clues are likely to leak out before the cameras stop rolling. For now, all eyes remain on Gotham’s growing list of secret societies, corrupt institutions, and very suspicious protest signs.

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